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Abstract:

An information processing apparatus configured to edit data including an
object used for forming an image includes a determination unit configured
to determine whether the object can be normally output with a resource
used for forming a specific image before forming an image of the object,
and a generation unit configured to generate data that restricts editing
of the object that is determined to be normally outputable by the
determination unit and generate data that does not restrict the editing
of the object that is determined not to be normally outputable by the
determination unit.

Claims:

1. An information processing apparatus configured to edit data including
an object used for forming an image comprising:a determination unit
configured to determine whether the object can be normally output with a
resource used for forming a specific image before forming an image of the
object; anda generation unit configured to generate data that restricts
editing of the object that is determined to be normally outputable by the
determination unit and generate data that does not restrict the editing
of the object that is determined not to be normally outputable by the
determination unit.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
determination unit determines again whether the object can be normally
output with the resource in updating the object.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further
comprising:a storage unit configured to store the object; andan updating
unit configured to update the object stored on the storage unit based on
a result of re-determination by the determination unit that the object
can be normally output.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
generation unit determines whether to permit the editing of the object
based on authentication information input by a user when the user
requests the editing of the object.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the
generation unit allows a user to insert a comment within the object
describing a ground that the determination unit determines that the
object cannot be normally output.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further
comprising a correction candidate output unit configured to output
correction candidates used for correcting the object so that the object
becomes normally outputable as image information when the determination
unit determines that the object cannot be normally output with the
resource.

9. A method for an information processing apparatus configured to edit
data including an object used for forming an image, the method
comprising:determining whether the object can be normally output with a
resource used for forming a specific image before forming an image of the
object; andgenerating data that restricts editing of the object
determined to be normally outputable and data that does not restrict the
editing of the object determined not to be normally outputable.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising determining again
whether the object can be normally output with the resource in updating
the object.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:storing the
object in a storage unit; andupdating the object stored in the storage
unit based on a result of re-determination that the object can be
normally output.

12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising determining
whether to permit the editing of the object based on authentication
information input by a user when the user requests the editing of the
object.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising allowing a user to
insert a comment within the object describing a ground for determining
that the object cannot not be normally output.

14. The method according to claim 9, further comprising outputting
correction candidates used for correcting the object so that the object
becomes normally outputable as image information when it is determined
that the object cannot be normally output with the resource.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising outputting
correction candidates as animation objects.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising outputting
correction candidates as three-dimensional objects.

17. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing a
computer to execute the method according to claim 9.

Description:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001]1. Field of the Invention

[0002]The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus
configured to process an object used for forming an image.

[0003]2. Description of the Related Art

[0004]Conventionally, a service has been offered for printing an
electronic document having a format such as portable document format
(PDF), postscript (PS), or scalable vector graphics (SVG) received from a
user.

[0005]In a conventional service like this, an operator performs a
preflight check on an electronic document received via a print system.
Then, if the operator verifies that it is appropriate to print the
electronic document with current print settings, the operator prints the
electronic document.

[0006]Here, the "preflight check" refers to checking contents of an
electronic document before performing actual printing to prevent a
suspension of an operation due to shortage of resources after having
started actual printing. In this case, the operator performs the
preflight check on the image forming apparatus.

[0007]Items to be checked primarily include items related to the resource
that is necessary for printing the electronic document. More
specifically, items to be checked primarily include types of fonts,
information about whether the fonts have been embedded, a name of a color
profile, and a resolution of image data included in the electronic
document.

[0008]In some cases, a print product desired by a user may not be obtained
even when a preflight check has been performed on a host computer which
generates an electronic document before the electronic document is sent
to the image forming apparatus and printed thereby. This is because a
quality of a print product may vary due to the characteristics of the
image forming apparatus.

[0009]For example, according to an environment in which an image forming
apparatus is used, the color reproduction characteristic of the image
forming apparatus may vary, for example, due to the temperature or the
humidity variation at the time of printing. Furthermore, if an image
forming apparatus does not originally have a capacity to reproduce a
color desired by a user, the user may not obtain a print product having a
desired quality. In order to address such a problem, a conventional
method performs a preflight check on an image forming apparatus
separately from a preflight check on a host computer.

[0010]In such a conventional method, it is necessary for the operator to
perform a preflight check on the host computer and then to perform
another preflight check on the image forming apparatus as a last stage of
preprint processing to reedit (correct) problems inherent in a document
or a portion thereof.

[0011]Such a conventional method, in the above-described processing, uses
a work flow in which the image forming apparatus notifies a result of the
preflight check to the operator and the operator sends to the image
forming apparatus the document whose invalid content has been
appropriately reedited (corrected). During this processing, the operator
can perform a test printing.

[0012]The document thus sent from an information processing apparatus to
the image forming apparatus is then subjected to another preflight check.
In this preflight check, a portion that has been determined not to
include an invalid drawing description in the previous preflight check
performed on the image forming apparatus may be determined to include an
invalid drawing description. This may arise if the operator has made an
error in editing the document. In this case, the result of the preflight
check is notified to the operator again, and then the operator is
prompted to reedit the portion determined to include the invalid drawing
description.

[0013]This work flow may be repeatedly performed in the conventional
method. Accordingly, the time taken for the processing by the operator
may become long which may degrade the operation efficiency. A throughput
of an image forming apparatus is generally lower than that of a host
computer. Accordingly, the conventional method has a problem such that a
very long time may be taken to perform a plurality of image forming
operations for preflight checks and test printing.

[0014]Furthermore, in a conventional system that performs a print
processing service, if an error in the content edited by the operator is
overlooked, a print product different from what a user desired may be
provided to the user. In this case, a serious user complaint may arise.

[0015]Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-252248 discusses a
system which generates print data used for printing an original document
based on the original document data and also generates proofreading data
which is generated by converting the print data into low resolution and a
preflight check report of the print data. Further, Japanese Laid-Open
Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-252248 discusses the system which
sends the data for proofreading data and the preflight check report to a
host computer via a file transmission server or an Internet gateway
server.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0016]The present invention is directed to an image forming system
including an information processing apparatus and an image forming
apparatus and configured to appropriately and efficiently correct a
content of an original document to be printed.

[0017]According to an aspect of the present invention, an information
processing apparatus configured to edit data including an object used for
forming an image includes a determination unit configured to determine
whether the object can be normally output with a resource used for
forming a specific image before forming an image of the object, and a
generation unit configured to generate data that restricts editing of the
object that is determined to be normally outputable by the determination
unit and generate data that does not restrict the editing of the object
that is determined not to be normally outputable by the determination
unit.

[0018]Further features and aspects of the present invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments
with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019]The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute
a portion of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments,
features, and aspects of the invention and, together with the
description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

[0020]FIG. 1A illustrates an example of an image forming system to which
an information processing apparatus can be applied according to a first
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware
configuration of the image forming system illustrated in FIG. 1A.

[0022]FIG. 2 illustrates an example of processing for generating an
electronic document performed by an electronic document generation module
(DM) illustrated in FIG. 1A.

[0023]FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a format of an electronic document
that can be processed by an image forming apparatus according to the
first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0024]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of data processing
performed by the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0025]FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a user interface displayed on a
liquid crystal display unit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in
FIG. 1.

[0026]FIG. 6 illustrates an example of processing for generating an
electronic document performed with the electronic document generation
module (DM) illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0027]FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of data processing
performed by the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0028]FIG. 8A illustrates an example of a user interface that can be
displayed on the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0029]FIG. 8B illustrates an example of a user interface that can be
displayed on the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0030]FIG. 8C illustrates an example of a user interface that can be
displayed on the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a format of an electronic document
edited on the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0032]FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example of data processing
performed by the information processing apparatus according to the first
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0033]FIG. 11A illustrates an example of a user interface displayed on the
information processing apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0034]FIG. 11B illustrates an example of a user interface displayed on the
information processing apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0035]FIG. 11C illustrates an example of a user interface displayed on the
information processing apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0036]FIG. 12 illustrates an example of preflight check processing
performed on the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0037]FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an electronic document that can be
processed by an information processing apparatus according to a second
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0038]FIG. 14 illustrates an example of processing an object performed by
the information processing apparatus according to the second exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.

[0039]FIG. 15 illustrates an example of processing for editing an
electronic document performed by an information processing apparatus
according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0040]FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a format of an electronic document
illustrated in FIG. 15.

[0041]FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a memory map of a storage medium
storing various data processing programs that can be read by the image
forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiments of the present
invention.

[0042]FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a memory map of a storage medium
storing various data processing programs that can be read by the
information processing apparatus according to the exemplary embodiments
of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0043]Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the present
invention will be described in detail below with reference to the
drawings. It is noted that the relative arrangement of the components,
the numerical expressions, and numerical values set forth in these
embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0044]FIG. 1A illustrates an example of an image forming system to which
an information processing apparatus according to a first exemplary
embodiment of the present invention can be applied. FIG. 1A illustrates
an exemplary hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus of the
image forming system. Referring to FIG. 1, a host computer 101 can
communicate with an image forming apparatus 102 via a network 114. The
host computer 101 includes a controller unit, an input device, a display
device, and an external storage device. Here, the controller unit of the
host computer 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a read-only
memory (ROM), and a random access memory (RAM). An operating system (OS)
installed on the host computer 101 controls the execution of an
application.

[0045]In FIG. 1A, an operator operates the host computer 101 to send an
electronic document to be preflight-checked or a print request to the
image forming apparatus 102 which is connected to the host computer 101
via the network 114. A format of an electronic document can include PDF,
PS, and SVG.

[0046]In the case where an electronic document sent from the host computer
101 is the electronic document to be preflight-checked, an external
interface (I/F) 113 of the image forming apparatus 102 receives the
electronic document sent from the host computer 101. The image forming
apparatus 102 stores the received electronic document on a first document
spooler (DSP) 103.

[0047]On the other hand, in the case where the image forming apparatus 102
receives a print request via a printer driver of the host computer 101,
the external interface 113 cuts off the print request to issue an
instruction for starting rendering to an electronic document rendering
module (RM) 108.

[0048]A preflight check module (PFCM) 104 acquires the electronic document
from the first document spooler 103 and stores a result of a preflight
check (a PF result) 105 performed on the electronic document. A "PF"
refers to a function for determining whether the electronic document
acquired from the host computer 101 can be normally output with the
resource of the image forming apparatus 102 before forming an image of
the electronic document.

[0049]A print-suitable electronic document generation module (DM) 106
stores a print-suitable electronic document generated based on the
electronic document stored in the first DSP 103 and the PF result 105, in
a second DSP 107. At this time, a portion of the electronic document that
is determined to be normally printable in the preflight check and a
portion of the electronic document that is determined to be normally
unprintable in the preflight check are stored as mutually different
electronic documents.

[0050]Then, authentication information is added to the portion of the
electronic document that is determined to be normally printable in the
preflight check. After the authentication information is added thereto,
the electronic document having the authentication information cannot be
edited without performing authentication processing.

[0051]The second DSP 107 is connected to an external memory 110 and can
store a plurality of electronic documents. In addition, an electronic
document for integrating the above-described two electronic documents is
generated and stored in the second DSP 107. The three electronic
documents generated in this manner are associated with one another, for
example, the three electronic documents can have the same file name but
different file extensions.

[0052]For example, the portion of the electronic document that is
determined to be normally printable is named "AAA.pr1", and the portion
of the electronic document that is determined to be normally unprintable
is named "AAA.pr2". The electronic document for integrating the two
electronic documents is named "AAA.pr0".

[0053]Based on the above-described determination result, the present
exemplary embodiment can generate a first electronic document to which an
attribute of being normally printable as the electronic document is
added, and a second electronic document to which an attribute of being
normally unprintable as the electronic document is added. The portion
"pr1" of the file name "AAA.pr1" indicates the attribute of being
normally printable. The portion "pr2" of the file name "AAA.pr2"
indicates the attribute of being normally unprintable.

[0054]After an electronic document suitable for printing is completely
generated, the DM 106 sends a preflight check result and a password used
for authentication processing to the host computer 101 via the external
interface 113.

[0055]The operator can acquire the preflight check result and the
electronic document stored in the second DSP 107 from the host computer
101 via the external interface 113 of the image forming apparatus 102 and
the network 114 to reedit the acquired check result and electronic
document. Furthermore, the operator can reedit the electronic document on
the image forming apparatus 102 using a user interface (UI) 112 and an
electronic document editing application 111 installed on the image
forming apparatus 102. The electronic document editing application 111
performs editing processing and display processing on the electronic
document.

[0056]When printing of the electronic document is instructed via the UI
112 of the host computer 101 or the image forming apparatus 102, the
image forming apparatus 102 forms an image using the electronic document
RM 108 and performs actual printing of the electronic document using an
engine 109.

[0057]The DM 106 generates an electronic document so that the electronic
document RM 108 can perform processing at a high speed. For example, in
the case where a character in the electronic document sent from the
operator has been described with a character code, the DM 106 forms an
image of the character and stores the character image in the second DSP
107 as well as the character code. Thus, it is not necessary for the
electronic document RM 108 to perform processing for forming a character
image. Accordingly, the electronic document RM 108 can process an
electronic document at a high speed.

[0058]The operator can store the electronic document in a removable
external memory 116 such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory and
connect the external memory 116 storing the electronic document to an
external memory interface 115 of the image forming apparatus 102. The
operator can perform a preflight check on the electronic document stored
in the host computer 101 or the external memory 116, via the UI 112 of
the image forming apparatus 102.

[0059]In the case where the operator performs an operation via the UI 112
of the image forming apparatus 102, the notification sent to the host
computer 101 from the image forming apparatus 102 is displayed on the UI
112.

[0060]A correction candidate generation module 117 generates correction
candidates selected by the user during a preflight check according to the
present exemplary embodiment as animation objects or three-dimensional
objects.

[0061]The correction candidate generation module 117 includes a correction
candidate output function. If it is determined that an electronic
document cannot be normally output with a resource of the image forming
apparatus 102, then the correction candidate generation module 117
outputs correction candidates as image information to enable normal
output of the electronic document. The processing performed by the
correction candidate generation module 117 will be described in detail
below.

[0062]Here, the "resource" includes a hardware resource and a software
resource (such as the type of the font included in an electronic
document, whether any font is embedded, a name of the color profile, and
the resolution of image data). The hardware resource includes an optional
device that executes a stapling function, a bookbinding function, or a
two-sided printing function. The correction candidate generation module
117 can be provided in the host computer 101.

[0063]FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration of the image
forming system illustrated in FIG. 1A. Components illustrated in FIG. 1B
similar to those illustrated in FIG. 1A are provided with the same
numerals and symbols.

[0064]Referring to FIG. 1B, the host computer 101 includes a CPU 1, a RAM
2, and a ROM 3. The CPU 1 loads and executes a control program stored in
the ROM 3 onto the RAM 2 to control the entire operation of devices in
communication with one another via an internal bus 4. The CPU 1 loads an
OS, a device driver, and an application stored in an external memory 11
onto the RAM 2 to perform data processing. In addition, the CPU 1 sends
generated output information via the device driver to the image forming
apparatus 102.

[0065]A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 can be operated by a user to process a
key cord input via a keyboard (KB) 9. The KB 9 can include a USB port for
connecting a pointing device such as a mouse to the host computer 101.

[0068]The image forming apparatus 102 includes a CPU 12, a ROM 13, and a
RAM 19. The CPU 12 loads and executes a control program stored in the ROM
13 onto the RAM 19 to control the entire operation of devices in
communication with one another via an internal bus 15.

[0069]A network controller (NIC) 18 is communicably connected to the host
computer 101 via the network 114. A printing unit I/F 16 notifies the CPU
12 of an output of image data to a printing unit 17 and notification
information received from a sensor included in the printing unit 17. A
function that the printing unit 17 can execute may differ due to a system
configuration of the image forming apparatus 102. As a specific example,
a sheet post-processing function executed by the printing unit 17 differs
according to an optional device connected to the image forming apparatus
102.

[0070]An operation unit 1012 includes a display device and a touch panel.
The operation unit 1012 has a function for displaying various user
interfaces such as an image forming condition setting screen and an
electronic document editing screen.

[0071]A memory controller (MC) 20 has functions for loading an application
stored in the external memory 110 onto the RAM 19 and storing the
electronic document received from the host computer 101 in a box area.
The MC 20 performs a user authentication on a request issued as to a box
document or an electronic document, by publicly known processing. The
application includes an electronic document generation module (DM).

[0072]Furthermore, the external memory 110 includes a module that performs
a preflight check on an electronic document received from the host
computer 101 and a module that generates an electronic document suitable
for printing based on the received electronic document.

[0073]In the case where an electronic document is determined as normally
unprintable by the engine 109 based on a result of a preflight check by
the PFCM 104, the DM 106 generates a second electronic document. The
external memory 110 causes the PFCM 104 to further perform a preflight
check on the second electronic document.

[0074]In the case where an electronic document is determined as normally
printable by the engine 109 based on a result of a preflight check by the
PFCM 104, the external memory 110 updates a first electronic document
stored in the external memory 110, which is generated by the DM 106.

[0075]As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, the
preflight check is repeated on the second electronic document that is
determined to be normally unprintable. Thus, the data size of the second
electronic document to be preflight checked is reduced every time a
preflight check is performed. Consequently, the present exemplary
embodiment improves the efficiency in performing preflight check. In the
present exemplary embodiment, the preflight check is performed on the
electronic document per page.

[0076]In addition, an application for editing the electronic document
received from the host computer 101 is installed on the external memory
110. The application can perform specific editing processing on the
electronic document. The specific editing processing includes resetting
an image output condition set to the second electronic document which is
determined to be normally unprintable to the electronic document received
from the host computer 101.

[0077]By performing the specific editing processing using the application,
the second electronic document can be corrected to be the first
electronic document which is normally printable with the resource of the
image forming apparatus 102. Here, items to be corrected are determined
based on resource of the image forming apparatus 102 and the set image
output condition.

[0078]Furthermore, the application executed by the CPU 12 includes a
function for determining, when the user issues a request for editing the
first electronic document, whether the requested editing can be permitted
based on authentication information entered by the user. This function
can prevent the user from reediting the normally printable first
electronic document by mistake. In addition, the function can respond to
the desire of the user to positively reedit the normally printable first
electronic document.

[0079]In the present exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus 102
performs a preflight check on the electronic document sent from the host
computer 101 and the user performs editing of the second electronic
document on the image forming apparatus 102.

[0080]However, it is also useful to notify a result of the preflight check
to the host computer 101. The host computer 101 generates the electronic
document and edits the electronic document to be normally printable using
the application installed on the host computer 101. That is, a system
configured to perform document processing according to the present
exemplary embodiment by operating the host computer 101 and the image
forming apparatus 102 which cooperate with each other can be included in
the scope of the present invention.

[0081]FIG. 2 illustrates an example of processing for generating an
electronic document performed by the electronic document generation
module (DM) 106 (FIG. 1A). In the present exemplary embodiment, an
electronic document 201 is a PDF document. Now, the generation of the
above-described three documents will be described.

[0082]Referring to FIG. 2, the DM 106 generates three electronic documents
(EDOCs) after the preflight check of the electronic document 201.

[0083]An EDOC 203 which is a first electronic document generated by the DM
106 is a portion of the electronic document 201 that is determined to be
normally printable in the preflight check. An EDOC 202 which is a second
electronic document generated by the DM 106 is a portion of the
electronic document 201 that is determined to be normally unprintable in
the preflight check. An EDOC 204 is a third electronic document generated
by the DM 106 for integrating the two EDOCs 203 and 202.

[0084]Thus, in reediting the electronic document 201 based on a result of
the preflight check, an operator 205 can extract and reedit only the EDOC
202 which is a portion of the electronic document 201 that is determined
to be normally unprintable.

[0085]In addition, according to the present exemplary embodiment, by using
the generated EDOCs 203, 202, and 204, the operator 205 can reedit the
EDOC 202 while viewing the electronic document 201 displayed on the
screen including the EDOC 203, the portion determined to be normally
printable. However, the operator 205 cannot reedit the EDOC 203. That is,
the present exemplary embodiment restricts reediting of the EDOC 203, the
portion determined to be normally printable.

[0086]That is, the CPU 12 controls the request for editing the first
electronic document or the second electronic document using the
application installed on the external memory 110 according to an
attribute of the first electronic document or the second electronic
document by control procedures described below.

[0087]The EDOC 204 which integrates the EDOC 202 and the EDOC 203 displays
a portion 210A determined to be normally printable in the preflight check
and a portion 210B determined to be normally unprintable in the preflight
check as one EDOC.

[0088]Therefore, the user can view the EDOC 203 and the EDOC 202 as one
EDOC (the EDOC 204) on the UI 112 without feeling unpleasant. More
specifically, in the example in FIG. 1A, the EDOC 204 integratedly
including the EDOC 203 and the EDOC 202 is displayed on a display device
of the operation unit 1012 (FIG. 1B). The display device of the operation
unit 1012 can display a color image, so that in the case of outputting a
preflight check correction candidate as an image, the user can easily
select the correction candidate by viewing a color image of the
correction candidates displayed as animation objects or three-dimensional
objects. The processing for selecting a correction candidate displayed as
an animation object or a three-dimensional object will be described in
more detail below.

[0089]Accordingly, the CPU 12 performs control so that the EDOC 204
integrates the portion determined to be normally unprintable and the
portion determined to be normally printable in the preflight check and
displays the portions as one EDOC. Thus, the EDOC 204 can be displayed on
the UI 112 as one EDOC, without causing the operator 205 to feel
unpleasant in viewing the same.

[0090]FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a format of the electronic document
that can be processed by the image forming apparatus according to the
present exemplary embodiment. More specifically, the example of FIG. 3
illustrates a format of the electronic document commonly used for the
electronic document suitable for printing which is generated by the DM
106 (FIG. 1A).

[0091]Referring to FIG. 3, a document ID 301 is a unique ID used for
identifying an electronic document. The operator can, in extracting the
electronic document or instructing printing of the electronic document,
designate the electronic document using the document ID 301 as well as
using a file name of the electronic document.

[0092]A password 302 is used to disable the authentication of a portion of
the electronic document which is determined to be normally printable in
the preflight check (for example, the EDOC 202).

[0093]A document type 303 is information for identifying the type of the
electronic document among three print-suitable electronic documents
(i.e., which of the EDOC 203, the EDOC 202, and the EDOC 204 the
electronic document is).

[0094]In the present exemplary embodiment, if the electronic document is
for integrating the electronic documents, a type 308 is described in the
document type 303. Furthermore, if the electronic document is the portion
determined to be normally unprintable in the preflight check, a type 309
is described in the document type 303. Moreover, if the electronic
document is the portion determined to be normally printable in the
preflight check, a type 310 is described in the document type 303.

[0095]A number of pages 304 indicates a number of pages included in the
electronic document. A file name 305 indicates a file name of the
electronic document that is the portion determined as normally printable
in the preflight check. A file name 306 indicates a file name of the
electronic document that is the portion determined as normally
unprintable in the preflight check.

[0096]A data portion 307 is used in an actual printing and includes a
plurality of pages and a plurality of objects. The objects can include a
character, a graphic, or an image. Furthermore, the objects include a
print position 311, an object type 312, an object attribute 313, and an
object substance 314.

[0097]In the present exemplary embodiment, the host computer 101 which is
an example of an information processing apparatus that can edit data
including an object used for forming an image is described.

[0098]The host computer 101 determines whether the object can be normally
output with the resource used in specific image forming before forming an
image of the object. If the host computer 101 determines that the object
is normally printable, the editing of the object is restricted. On the
other hand, if the host computer 101 determines that the object is
normally unprintable, data that is not restricted in editing of the
object is generated.

[0099]The object type 312 includes the types of the data, i.e., a comment
315 and an object to be printed 316. If the data is the comment 315, the
data is not printed on paper in an actual printing.

[0100]Furthermore, if the data is the comment 315, the data is used to
describe a result of the preflight check, which will be described below.
The comment 315 can include a description about a ground for determining
that the data is normally unprintable. By referring to the content of the
comment 315, the user can easily understand which output condition is to
be corrected with respect to the second electronic document.

[0101]The object attribute 313 describes whether the object is a
character, a graphic, or an image. The image forming apparatus 102
changes a method for forming an image based on the content of the object
attribute 313 to obtain a print product having an appropriate print
quality.

[0102]If a general document format can be employed as the document format
according to the present exemplary embodiment, the general document
format can be used as the format for generating an electronic document
suitable for printing.

[0103]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the data
processing performed by the image forming apparatus according to the
present exemplary embodiment. In this flow chart, document processing
from the preflight check performed within the image forming apparatus 102
through generating an electronic document suitable for printing is
described. Each step of the processing illustrated in FIG. 4 can be
implemented by the CPU 12 (FIG. 1B) that loads and executes the DM 106
and the PFCM 104 from the external memory 110 onto the RAM 19.

[0104]Referring to FIG. 4, in step S401, the CPU 12 waits until an
electronic document to be preflight-checked is received from the host
computer 101. In the present exemplary embodiment, the file format of the
electronic document is PDF.

[0105]When an electronic document to be preflight-checked is sent from the
host computer 101, the CPU 12 activates the PFCM 104 to start the
preflight check on the received electronic document.

[0106]In step S402, after starting the preflight check, the CPU 12
determines whether the preflight check of the electronic document
including a plurality of pages is completed for all the pages by checking
remaining pages. If it is determined in step S402 that no page to be
preflight-checked remains (NO in step S402), then the CPU 12 recognizes
that all the pages are preflight-checked. Then, the processing advances
to step S412.

[0107]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S402 that pages to be
preflight-checked remain (YES in step S402), then the processing advances
to step S403. In step S403, the CPU 12 causes the PFCM 104 to perform the
preflight check on the electronic document and stores a result of the
preflight check (the PF result 105).

[0108]In step S404, the DM 106 performs processing for simplifying the
object included in the stored electronic document and generates object
information such as the printing position 311, the object type 312, the
object attribute 313, and the object substance 314 (FIG. 3).

[0109]In step S405, the CPU 12 determines whether the object is determined
as normally printable in the preflight check by the PFCM 104. If it is
determined in step S405 that the object is normally printable in the
preflight check by the PFCM 104 (YES in step S405), then the processing
advances to step S407. In step S407, the CPU 12 adds the object to
uneditable electronic documents. Then, the processing advances to step
S408.

[0110]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S405 that the object
is normally unprintable in the preflight check by the PFCM 104 (NO in
step S405), then the processing advances to step S406. In step S406, the
CPU 12 adds the object to editable electronic documents. Then, the
processing advances to step S408.

[0111]In step S406, authentication information for editing is added to the
editable electronic document and stored. The authentication information
includes a password illustrated in FIG. 2. Adding the authentication
information to the editable electronic document can prevent the user from
instructing unnecessary editing of the object and further reediting the
object.

[0112]That is, the user can recognize that the page needs input of a
password for editing and positively reedit the page by entering the
required password. Accordingly, the objects on the same page can be
divided into an object to be reedited and an object not to be reedited.

[0113]In step S408, the CPU 12 determines whether the processing from step
S403 to step S407 is completely performed for all the objects included in
the page. If it is determined in step S408 that the processing is not
completed for all the objects (NO in step S408), then the CPU 12 repeats
the processing in step S403 and beyond. On the other hand, if it is
determined in step S408 that the processing is completed for all the
objects (YES in step S408), then the processing advances to step S409.

[0114]That is, when the preflight check by the PFCM 104 on one page of the
electronic document is completed as described above, then the processing
advances to step S409. In step S409, the CPU 12 causes the DM 106 to
generate an electronic document for integrating an editable electronic
document having no authentication information and an uneditable
electronic document having authentication information.

[0115]In step S410, the CPU 12 causes the PFCM 104 to add authentication
information to the uneditable electronic document and add a detailed
preflight check result to the editable electronic document. Then, the
processing advances to step S411. In step S411, the CPU 12 stores the
generated three electronic documents in the external memory 110, for
example.

[0116]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S402 that no page to
be preflight-checked remains i.e., if the preflight check is completed
for all the pages, (NO in step S402) then the processing advances to step
S412.

[0117]In step S412, the CPU 12 adds a unique document ID and document
information to each of the stored three electronic documents. The
document information includes the password 302, the document type 303,
the number of pages 304, and the file names 305 and 306 (FIG. 3).

[0118]When the processing for generating the three EDOCs 202 to 204
suitable for printing is completed as described above, the processing
advances to step S413. In step S413, the CPU 12 issues a completion
notification to the host computer 101 or the operation unit 1012 of the
image forming apparatus 102. The operation unit 1012 includes a liquid
crystal display unit and a liquid crystal touch panel, for example. The
operation unit 1012 displays the completion notification on the UI screen
(FIG. 5).

[0119]In the completion notification, a summary of the preflight check
result, the password used for user authentication, and a storage location
and a file name of the electronic document suitable for printing are
included.

[0121]Referring to FIG. 5, an entire UI screen 501 displays a summary 502
of the preflight check result, the storage location and the file name of
the electronic document suitable for printing 503, and a password 504
used for authentication processing which are notified to a user. The
summary 502 notifies a user of the number of errors which corresponds to
an item to be previously extracted. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5,
the storage location of the electronic document is displayed as a uniform
resource locator (URL) managed by a server apparatus on the network.
Under a local system environment, the storage location of the electronic
document can be indicated by an Internet protocol (IP) address which
indicates an address of a folder on a network.

[0122]FIG. 6 illustrates an example of processing for generating an
electronic document performed by the electronic document generation
module (DM) 106 (FIG. 1). In the present exemplary embodiment, the file
format of the electronic document 201 is PDF. Now, processing for adding
the comment 315 (FIG. 3) to an electronic document suitable for printing
will be described in detail below.

[0123]An electronic document that is determined to be normally unprintable
in a preflight check includes a wide blank portion because the portion of
the electronic document that is determined to be normally printable in
the preflight check is removed therefrom. In the present exemplary
embodiment, a preflight check detailed result is added to the blank
portion of the electronic document as a comment. More specifically,
comments CM1 and CM2 (described below) are added to the blank portion of
an EDOC 601 (FIG. 6) which is determined to be normally unprintable in
the preflight check.

[0124]Referring to FIG. 6, an EDOC 603 which is a first electronic
document generated by the DM 106 is a portion of the electronic document
that is determined to be normally printable in the preflight check. An
EDOC 601 which is a second electronic document generated by the DM 106 is
a portion of the electronic document 201 that is determined to be
normally unprintable in the preflight check. An EDOC 604 is a third
electronic document generated by the DM 106 for integrating the two EDOCs
601 and 603.

[0125]According to the present exemplary embodiment, an operator 607 can
refer to the comments CM1 and CM2 and a detailed content of the preflight
check at the time of reediting the EDOC 601 that is determined to be
normally unprintable in the preflight check. Accordingly, the user 607
can reduce mistakes it makes in the reediting and the time taken for the
processing.

[0126]When the user 607 sees through the integrating EDOC 604 , the
comments CM1 and CM2 are insertably disposed in a normally printable area
of an EDOC 605. Accordingly, a comment portion of the electronic document
(an EDOC 606) having a comment and determined as normally unprintable in
the preflight check is hidden when the EDOC 606 is displayed. This is
because each of the comment CM1 and the comment CM2 is overwritten when
the EDOC 605 which is determined to be normally printable in the
preflight check is displayed.

[0127]FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of data processing
performed by the image forming apparatus according to the present
exemplary embodiment. FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary processing for
reediting an electronic document. Each step of the processing illustrated
in FIG. 7 can be implemented by the CPU 12 of the image forming apparatus
102 (FIG. 1B) that loads and executes a control program (an application)
from the external memory 110 onto the RAM 19.

[0128]A flow of processing performed with the application used by the
operator for reediting an electronic document according to the present
exemplary embodiment will be described below. In the present exemplary
embodiment, the application for reediting an electronic document operates
on the image forming apparatus 102. However, the electronic document
reediting application can also operate on the host computer 101.

[0129]Referring to FIG. 7, after the operator started the electronic
document reediting application, in step S701, the application displays on
the operation unit 1012 a user interface illustrated in FIG. 8A for
designating an electronic file to be edited and which one of the three
electronic documents is to be opened as a UI screen.

[0130]FIGS. 8A through 8C each illustrate an example of a user interface
that can be displayed on the image forming apparatus 102 according to the
present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 8 A illustrates a file acquisition and
display screen. FIG. 8B illustrates an uneditable electronic document
warning screen. FIG. 8C illustrates an authentication processing screen.

[0131]Referring to FIG. 8A, radio buttons RB1 through RB3 can be operated
by a user to designate a method for acquiring a desired electronic
document. Buttons BT1 (an OK button) and BT2 (a cancel button) each can
be operatedby the user to finalize or cancel the designation for
selecting an electronic document to acquire.

[0132]The radio button RB1 is selected to take an alternative "entire
document" including the three EDOCs. That is, the radio button RB1 is
selected to take the integrating EDOC and open both the portion of the
electronic document determined to be normally printable and the portion
of the electronic document determined to be normally unprintable in the
preflight check.

[0133]The radio button RB2 is selected to take an alternative "portion
determined invalid by preflight check". That is, the radio button RB2 is
selected to open a portion of the uneditable electronic document to which
authentication for the portion determined to be normally unprintable in
the preflight check is added.

[0134]The radio button RB3 is selected to take an alternative "portion
determined normal by preflight check". That is, the radio button RB3 is
selected to open the editable electronic document that is the portion
determined to be normally printable in the preflight check.

[0135]In step S702, the operator selects one of the radio buttons RB1
through RB3 to take the entire document, the editable portion, or the
uneditable portion.

[0136]After the operator designated the electronic file to be to be
opened, in step S703, the application determines whether the EDOC that is
an uneditable portion (the portion determined to be normally printable in
the preflight check) is designated by the operator.

[0137]In the present exemplary embodiment, the application determines that
the electronic file that is an uneditable portion is selected in a case
where the operator selects the radio button RB1 to take the alternative
"entire document" or the radio button RB3 to take the alternative
"portion determined normal by preflight check", as described above with
reference to FIG. 8A.

[0138]If it is determined in step S703 that the electronic file that is
the uneditable portion is not selected (NO in step S703), then the
processing advances to step S707.

[0139]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S703 that the
electronic file that is the uneditable portion is selected (YES in step
S703), then the processing advances to step S704. In step S704, the
application displays on the operation unit 1012 a UI screen (FIG. 8B) for
warning of an uneditable electronic document and for allowing the
operator to determine whether to perform the authentication processing.

[0140]The UI screen illustrated in FIG. 8B includes a comment 811 for
warning the operator that the electronic document is uneditable and a
button BT21 for opening an authentication window 820 (FIG. 8C) that
prompts the user to perform the authentication processing in the case of
editing the electronic document. Furthermore, the UI screen includes a
cancel button BT22 which can be pressed by the operator to return the
display to the UI screen illustrated in FIG. 8A without performing the
authentication processing.

[0141]When performing the authentication processing, the operator presses
the button BT21 to display the authentication UI illustrated in FIG. 8C
on the operation unit 1012.

[0142]The user interface illustrated in FIG. 8C includes a password input
unit 821 and radio buttons RB11 and RB12 for identifying a range of
disabling the authentication. When the operator enters the notified
password 504 (FIG. 5) in the password input unit 821, the portion
determined to be normally printable can be made editable.

[0143]Referring to FIG. 8C, when the operator selects the radio button
RB11, the entire document is designated as the range of disabling the
authentication. When the radio button RB12 is selected by the operator, a
currently selected portion (this portion can be designated per page,
chapter, or object) is designated as the range of disabling the
authentication.

[0144]By selecting the radio buttons RB11 and RB12, the operator can set
the entire page as the portion to be edited or restrict the portion to be
edited to a limited area. Thus, a wrong editing portion caused by mistake
can be limited to a page or a part of a page.

[0145]If it is determined in step S705 that the user does not instruct to
set the electronic document editable (that is, the operator does not
perform the authentication processing, No in step S705), then the
processing advances to step S706. In step S706, the application displays
the uneditable portion in a shaded view to inhibit the operator from
editing the electronic document. By controlling the display to visually
distinguish the normally printable portion from portions other than the
normally printable portion, the user can easily recognize a normally
printable portion and a normally unprintable portion.

[0146]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S705 that the
operator has performed the authentication processing via the UI
illustrated in FIG. 8C (YES in step S705), then the application normally
displays the uneditable portion of the electronic document to permit
editing of the electronic document by the operator. The present exemplary
embodiment can flexibly respond to a user's desire to reedit a portion
determined to be uneditable in the preflight check. Thus, the present
exemplary embodiment can improve usability.

[0147]In step S707, the application receives the input by an arbitrary
operation of the operator via the operation unit 1012. The arbitrary
operation includes editing, changing display position, storing, and
ending the processing of the electronic document.

[0148]In step S708, the application determines whether the operator has
issued an instruction for ending the processing. If it is determined in
step S708 that the operator has issued an instruction for ending the
processing (YES in step S708), then the processing ends.

[0149]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S708 that the
operator has not issued an instruction for ending the processing (NO in
step S708), then the processing advances to step S709. In step S709, the
application determines whether the operator has issued an instruction for
performing the editing processing.

[0150]The user can issue an operation request by a simple selection
operation via the user interface displayed on the operation unit 1012.
Accordingly, the CPU 12 performs control for displaying the screen
including a button for instructing ending of processing on the operation
unit 1012.

[0151]If it is determined in step S709 that the operator has not issued an
instruction for performing the editing processing (NO in step S709), then
the processing advances to step S710. In step S710, the application
performs other processing and returns to step S708. The other processing
includes changing of the display position and storing the electronic
document.

[0152]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S709 that the
operator has issued an instruction for performing the editing processing
(YES in step S709), then the processing advances to step S711. Instep
S711, the application determines whether the portion designated as the
target of the editing processing is an uneditable portion or an
uneditable electronic document. If it is determined in step S711 that the
portion designated as the target of the editing processing is neither an
uneditable portion nor an uneditable electronic document (NO in step
S711), then the processing advances to step S715. In step S715, the
application reflects a content of the editing on the electronic document.
Then, the processing returns to step S708.

[0153]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S711 that the portion
designated as the target of the editing processing is an uneditable
portion or an uneditable electronic document (YES in step S711), then the
processing advances to step S712. In step S712, the application displays
the user interface illustrated in FIG. 8B on the operation unit 1012 and
displays a warning of uneditable document.

[0154]In step S713, the application determines whether the operator has
performed the authentication processing to set the electronic document
editable while displaying the UI illustrated in FIG. 8C. If it is
determined in step S713 that the operator has performed the
authentication processing to set the electronic document editable (i.e.,
the operator pressed the button BT1 (FIG. 8C)) (YES in step S713), then
the processing advances to step S714.

[0155]In step S714, the application disables the shaded display of the
portion displayed as an uneditable portion to set the portion editable.
If it is determined in step S713 that the portion designated by the
operator has not been set editable (NO in step S713), then the processing
returns to step S708.

[0156]In step S715, the application reflects the content of the editing
performed by the operator on the electronic document. Then, the
processing by the application ends.

[0157]FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a format of an electronic document
edited on the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary
embodiment. FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary format of the electronic
document in the case of requesting a preflight check or a printing from
the host computer 101 to the image forming apparatus 102.

[0158]Referring to FIG. 9, in the case of requesting a preflight check or
a printing from the host computer 101 to the image forming apparatus 102,
the electronic document format includes headers 901 through 903 attached
to an electronic document substance 904.

[0159]The electronic document substance 904 is an electronic document such
as a PDF document or a PS document when the electronic document is sent
from the host computer 101 to the image forming apparatus 102 for the
first time. At the time of sending the electronic document for the second
time and beyond, the electronic document substance 904 is an electronic
document suitable for printing illustrated in FIG. 3. The "sending of the
electronic document for the second time and beyond" refers to the sending
of the electronic document to perform a re-determination processing on
the electronic document that is edited to be normally printable by the
PFCM 104.

[0160]In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, a portion "processing
instruction" in a header 901 indicates whether preflight processing 905
or print processing 906 has been requested. The external I/F 113 of the
image forming apparatus 102 distributes the processing on the electronic
document to either the preflight processing 905 or the print processing
906 based on the content of the header 901.

[0161]Various print settings are included in the print processing 906. The
print setting includes a setting for a test printing, two-sided printing,
the number of prints, a layout, and a designation on a page to be
printed.

[0162]The header 903 includes an electronic document type. More
specifically, the header 903 includes types 907 through 911 of the
electronic document substance 904. The type 907 indicates that the
electronic document type is PDF. The type 908 indicates that the
electronic document type is PS. The type 909 indicates that the
electronic document type is PRF which is the electronic document already
preflight-checked on the image forming apparatus 102.

[0163]The type 910 indicates that the electronic document type is PR1
which is an editable portion of the electronic document that is already
preflight-checked on the image forming apparatus 102. The type 911
indicates that the electronic document type is PR2 which is an uneditable
portion of the electronic document that is already preflight-checked on
the image forming apparatus 102.

[0164]FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example of data processing
performed by the information processing apparatus according to the
present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 10 corresponds to processing performed
when a preflight check or print processing has been requested from the
host computer 101. Each step of the processing illustrated in FIG. 10 can
be implemented by the CPU 1 of the host computer 101 that loads and
executes a control program (an application) from the external memory 11
onto the RAM 2. The processing illustrated in FIG. 10 can be performed by
starting a printer driver or a utility stored on the external memory 11
of the host computer 101. That is, the function of the processing
illustrated in FIG. 10 can be provided as a function of the printer
driver or the utility.

[0165]Referring to FIG. 10, in step S1001, the operator operates the KB 9
to select a file from a list of files (FIG. 11A) displayed on the display
unit 10. In step S1002, the operator selects either a preflight check or
print processing as the processing to be performed on the electronic
document selected in step S1001.

[0166]The result of the selection by the operator in step S1002 is set in
the portion "processing instruction" in the header 901 of the electronic
document format to be sent from the host computer 101, as described above
with reference to FIG. 9.

[0167]In step S1003, the CPU 1 determines whether print processing has
been selected in step S1002. If it is determined in step S1003 that the
print processing is selected (YES in step S1003), then the processing
advances to step S1004. In step S1004, the CPU 1 performs various print
settings. Then, the processing advances to step S1005.

[0168]The content of the print settings set in step S1004 is reflected in
the portion "print setting" in the header 902 in the electronic document
format to be sent from the host computer 101, as described above with
reference to FIG. 9.

[0169]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1003 that processing
other than the print processing is selected (NO in step S1003), then the
processing advances to step S1005. In step S1005, the CPU 1 checks the
type of the document format of the file selected on a UI screen
illustrated in FIG. 11A. In step S1006, the request selected by the
operator is performed. Then, the CPU 1 sets the document type "PDF" or
"PS" to the portion "document type" in the header 903 in the electronic
document format to be sent from the host computer 101.

[0170]In step S1007, the CPU 1 determines, based on the content of the
header 901, whether requested processing is "print processing". If it is
determined in step S1007 that the requested processing is "print
processing" (YES in step S1007), then the processing advances to step
S1013. In step S1013, the CPU 1 sends the electronic document without
attaching the electronic document substance 904 thereto. Then, the
processing ends.

[0171]On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1007 that the
requested processing is not "print processing" based on the content of
the header 901, that is, if it is determined here that the requested
processing is "preflight check processing" (the preflight processing
905), then the processing advances to step S1008.

[0172]In step S1008, the CPU 1 determines whether the document format of a
selected file is a general-purpose document format such as "PDF" or the
"PS". If the CPU 1 determines in step S1008 that the document format of a
selected file is the general-purpose document format (YES in step S1008),
then the processing advances to step S1012. In step S1012, the CPU 1
attaches all the documents to the electronic document substance 904. Then
in step S1013, the CPU 1 sends the document to the image forming
apparatus 102 and the processing ends.

[0173]On the other hand, if the CPU 1 determines in step S1008 that the
document format of the selected file is an electronic format suitable for
printing (NO in step S1008), then the processing advances to step S1009.
In step S1009, the CPU 1 determines whether the selected file has already
been preflight-checked. If it is determined in step S1009 that the
selected file has not yet been preflight-checked (NO in step S1009), then
the processing advances to step S1012. On the other hand, if it is
determined in step S1009 that the selected file has already been
preflight-checked (YES in step S1009), then the processing advances to
step S1010. In step S1010, the CPU 1 determines whether the
authentication has been disabled.

[0174]If the CPU 1 determines in step S1010 that the authentication has
not been disabled (NO in step S1010), then the processing advances to
step S1011. In step S1011, the CPU 1 attaches only an editable electronic
document (a portion that has been determined to be normally unprintable
by the previous preflight check). Then, in step S1013, the CPU 1 sends to
the image forming apparatus 102 only the portion that has been determined
to be normally unprintable via the NIC 8. Then, the processing ends.

[0175]On the other hand, if the CPU 1 determines in step S1010 that the
authentication has been disabled (YES in step S1010), then the CPU 1
attaches all electronic documents in step S1012. Then, in step S1013, the
CPU 1 sends all electronic documents to the image forming apparatus 102
via the NIC 8 and the processing ends.

[0176]Accordingly, a size of a file sent when preflight check processing
is requested for the second time and beyond can be appropriately reduced.
Thus, the processing speed can be improved.

[0177]FIGS. 11A through 11C each illustrate an example of a user interface
displayed on the information processing apparatus according to the
present exemplary embodiment. More specifically, each of FIGS. 11A
through 11C illustrates an exemplary UI screen used for requesting a
preflight check or print processing on the host computer 101. The UI
screen illustrated in each of FIGS. 11A through 11C can be provided as a
function of the printer driver or a function of the utility.

[0178]Referring to FIG. 11A, a file selection screen 1101 includes a file
selection window 1102 for selecting a file to be processed and a check
box 1103 for selecting the preflight check or the print processing as the
requested processing.

[0179]The operator selects a file via the window 1102, selects the
processing to be performed via the check box 1103, and presses the button
BT1 functioning as a request execution button to perform the requested
processing. A button BT2 is a cancel button to cancel the requested
processing.

[0180]Referring to FIG. 11A, if the requested processing is print
processing, a print setting UI 1110 illustrated in FIG. 11B is displayed.

[0181]Referring to FIG. 11B, the operator presses radio buttons RB111
through RB113 to perform various print settings (settings for test
printing, two-sided printing, a layout, and a designation of the page(s)
to be printed). If test printing is selected as the print method, an
input unit 1112 for designating the details of the test printing enters
an active state so that the operator can designate a mode such as a toner
saving mode via the input unit 1112. A document to be printed is
designated in an area 1111.

[0182]The operator can designate the number of prints from a column 1113.
Furthermore, the operator can designate a layout method, namely, the
number of pages to be included in one sheet as its layout (N in 1), can
be designated from a column layout 1114. In this case, the number of
pages (N) to be included in one sheet is indicated as "N pages/sheet".

[0183]Furthermore, the operator can designate a print range of pages by
selecting the radio button RB 113 and inputting the page number of a
print start page 1115 and the page number of a print end page 1116.

[0184]The operator selects a file to be preflight-checked via a file
selection screen 1121 on a preflight check performing UI 1120 illustrated
in FIG. 11C. The preflight check performing UI 1120 includes a document
type selection field 1122. In the example in FIG. 11C, an already
preflight-checked document (.prf) has been selected as the file type.

[0185]FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary preflight check processing performed
on the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary
embodiment. Now, processing for performing a second-time preflight check
and beyond at a high speed will be described below. In the present
exemplary embodiment, the type of the electronic document is PDF.

[0186]Referring to FIG. 12, in a first-time preflight check, it takes a
long time because the preflight check is performed on all objects
included in an electronic document 1201.

[0187]On the other hand, with respect to a second-time preflight check and
beyond, it is not necessary to perform a preflight check on an object
included in an electronic document 1203 which has been determined to be
normally printable by the first-time preflight check and on an
integrating electronic document 1204.

[0188]Accordingly, only an object included in the electronic document 1202
which has been determined to be normally unprintable by the first-time
preflight check is preflight-checked.

[0189]Thus, the number of objects to be preflight-checked can be reduced.
Accordingly, the present exemplary embodiment can perform a preflight
check at a high speed. Portions 1205 are recognized as unprintable
portions by the preflight check.

[0190]In the present exemplary embodiment, if the authentication set on an
electronic document determined as normally unprintable in the preflight
check is disabled, a subsequent preflight check is performed as a
first-time preflight check, and the entire electronic document is
subjected to the first-time preflight check.

[0191]In the first exemplary embodiment, the instruction for correcting
the object that has been determined in the preflight check is notified to
the user in the form of a comment. However, in the case of using a
comment, the user may not easily understand grounds for determining as
normally unprintable. For example, if it is difficult to determine the
ground without visually verifying, for example, a resolution and a tint
of the printing unit 17, the user cannot easily understand the comment
indicating such a ground. In this regard, a second exemplary embodiment
visually notifies a user of a content of an object to be corrected in the
preflight check, to efficiently perform a correction.

[0192]An example for embedding correction candidates as animation objects
or three-dimensional objects for an object determined to require
correction in a preflight check will be described with reference to FIG.
13.

[0193]FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an electronic document that can be
processed on the information processing apparatus according to the
present exemplary embodiment.

[0194]A PDF page 1301 includes an object 1302. Suppose that in the example
illustrated in FIG. 13, the object 1302 is determined to be normally
unprintable in a preflight check.

[0195]If it is determined that the object 1302 cannot be printed with a
normal color or brightness due to the capacity of the image forming
apparatus 102, the correction candidate generation module 117 generates a
plurality of types of objects that is corrected to be printable with the
capacity of the image forming apparatus 102. Then, the correction
candidates generated by the correction candidate generation module 117
are embedded in an animation object 1303 as objects 1304, 1305, and 1306
whose correction method differs from one another. Here, the number of the
objects as the correction candidate is not limited to three.

[0196]The operator activates the animation, stops the animation at a
position of a desired correction candidate, and then sends the electronic
document including the position of the object to be corrected to the
image forming apparatus 102.

[0197]The image forming apparatus 102 performs a preflight check with
respect to the position of the animation object 1303 displayed at the
time of storing the electronic document, and prints the electronic
document.

[0198]In the case of a three-dimensional object, the correction candidate
generation module 117 can generate a plurality of correction candidates
1307 through 1310 which can be embedded, as in the case of the animation
object 1303. In addition, the user can change and determine whether to
display animation object correction candidates or three-dimensional
object correction candidates by operating a button on the UI screen.
Alternatively, whether to display the three-dimensional object correction
candidates or the animation object correction candidates can be
automatically displayed according to the number of generated candidates.

[0199]In the case of using three-dimensional objects for the correction
candidates, the image forming apparatus 102 performs a preflight check
with respect to the position of the three-dimensional object displayed at
the time of storing the electronic document, and prints the electronic
document.

[0200]The operator operates the pointing device to rotate the
three-dimensional object, stops the three-dimensional object at the
position of the desired correction candidate, and sends the electronic
document to the image forming apparatus 102 in this state.

[0201]The operator can easily select a correction candidate by operating
the animation and rotating the three-dimensional object. Furthermore, the
operator can prevent changing of the layout that may be performed by
mistake.

[0202]Now, a method for editing an object attribute included in an
electronic document is described with reference to FIG. 14.

[0203]FIG. 14 illustrates an example of processing of an object performed
by the information processing apparatus according to the present
exemplary embodiment. In the present exemplary embodiment, an application
for editing an object attribute uses different colors for different
objects based on the object attribute 313 (FIG. 3). That is, the object
attribute editing application uses different shading types for different
objects.

[0204]Referring to FIG. 14, an object attribute editing screen 1401
includes attribute patterns 1402. The attribute pattern 1402 indicates
which color (shading type) corresponds to which object attribute and
indicates which object attribute is used in an actual page 1403. In FIG.
14, a selection field 1405 indicates that a character is determined to
have an image attribute. Furthermore, the object attribute editing screen
1401 includes buttons BT141 through BT143.

[0205]If a character is described in a character code in an electronic
document, the character can be determined to be a character. However, if
a character code is rasterized into a bitmap image on the host computer
101 before being sent to the image forming apparatus 102, the character
is liable to be erroneously determined as an image.

[0206]In this case, in order to change the attribute of the character from
the image attribute to the character attribute, the operator clicks a
corresponding portion with a pointing device and selects the desired
attribute from the attribute pattern 1402 to appropriately change the
attribute.

[0207]A third exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described
below. In the present exemplary embodiment, a method is described that
prevents mistakenly editing a portion of one electronic document suitable
for printing, which is determined to be normally printable in a preflight
check. Here, it is desired not to change the portion that is determined
to be normally printable. That is, if a user can freely edit the portion
that is determined to be normally printable, the portion may be
determined as normally unprintable by a further preflight check.

[0208]Here, tag information can be added to an electronic document
suitable for printing. The tag information is used for adding an
attribute to an electronic document or a portion of an electronic
document. The tag information includes a preflight check result. The
application determines whether to permit the operator to edit the
electronic document based on the preflight check result described in the
tag information.

[0209]FIG. 15 illustrates an example of processing for editing an
electronic document performed by the information processing apparatus
according to the present exemplary embodiment. Now, processing for adding
a preflight check result to tag information is described.

[0210]The processing is implemented by executing an application installed
on the external memory 11 of the host computer 101. An application 1509
operates on the host computer 101 or the image forming apparatus 102. The
processing can be performed on the image forming apparatus 102 by
installing the application on the external memory 110 of the image
forming apparatus 102.

[0211]Referring to FIG. 15, an electronic document 1501 to be preflight
checked is converted into an electronic document suitable for printing
1502 after the preflight check.

[0212]Tag information 1503 is included in the electronic document suitable
for printing 1502, and a result of the preflight check is added to the
tag information 1503. The result of the preflight check includes a
determination as to whether the electronic document suitable for printing
1502 can be normally printed.

[0213]An operator 1505 refers to the result of the preflight check added
to the tag information included in the electronic document suitable for
printing 1502, and then edits the electronic document suitable for
printing 1502 with an application 1509 having a function for determining
whether an electronic document can be edited.

[0214]The application 1509 does not permit the operator 1505 to edit a
portion that is determined to be normally printable as a result of the
preflight check and enclosed by the tag information 1503.

[0215]The application 1509 can be installed on the host computer 101 or
the image forming apparatus 102. In this case, the application 1509 can
be downloaded and executed from one of the host computer 101 or the image
forming apparatus 102 in which the application 1509 is installed.

[0216]With this configuration, the present exemplary embodiment can
prevent the operator from editing by mistake the portion that is
determined to be normally printable as the result of the preflight check
by using the electronic document suitable for printing 1502.

[0217]The tag information 1503 included in the electronic document
suitable for printing 1502 includes a plurality of objects 1504. The
plurality of objects 1504 can be a plurality of images 1506, a plurality
of graphics 1507, and a plurality of characters 1508. Furthermore, a
plurality of objects of different object types, for example, a graphic
and a character, can be designated.

[0218]Now, an electronic document format suitable for printing and whose
tag information can include a result of a preflight check is described in
detail below with reference to FIG. 16.

[0219]FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a format of the electronic
document 1502 illustrated in FIG. 15.

[0220]Referring to FIG. 16, the electronic document 1502 (FIG. 15)
includes tag information 1601 through 1603. The tag information 1601
through 1603 include information about whether the electronic document
1502 is determined to be normally printable (information 1604) or to be
normally unprintable (information 1605) in the preflight check. The
content of the tag information 1601 through 1603 corresponds to a
preflight check result included in the tag information 1503 (FIG. 15).

[0221]The tag information 1601 is a tag for designating the entire page.
The tag information 1601 is added if the results of preflight checks are
mutually the same for all objects included in the page. For example, the
tag information 1601 is added if it is determined that all objects
included in a page can be normally printed and the entire page is
designated as uneditable.

[0222]The tag information 1602 can add information for determining whether
the object is normally printable or unprintable in the preflight check to
some of a plurality of objects included in a page. Owing to the tag
information 1602, the object that is determined to be normally printable
in the preflight check becomes uneditable and the object that is
determined to be normally unprintable in the preflight check becomes
editable.

[0223]The tag information 1603 is a tag for designating the entire
electronic document. The tag information 1603 is added if the preflight
check results for all the objects included in the electronic document are
mutually the same. More specifically, the tag information 1603 is added
if all the objects included in the electronic document is determined to
be normally printable in the preflight check and the entire electronic
document is designated as uneditable, for example.

[0224]The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by
an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus
according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention is
described with reference to memory maps illustrated in FIG. 17 and FIG.
18.

[0225]FIG. 17 illustrates a memory map of a storage medium that stores
various data processing programs that can be read by the image forming
apparatus 102 according to the present exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.

[0226]FIG. 18 illustrates a memory map of a storage medium that stores
various data processing programs that can be read by an information
processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.

[0227]Information for managing the programs stored in the storage medium
such as version information, and information concerning the creator of a
program, and information that depends on an OS of an apparatus that reads
the program such as an icon for identifying and displaying the program
can be stored in the storage medium.

[0228]Data that is subordinate to the various programs is also managed in
a directory of the storage medium. In addition, a program for installing
the various programs on a computer, and in the case where a program to be
installed is compressed, a program for decompressing the compressed
program can be stored in the storage medium.

[0229]The functions according to the present exemplary embodiments
illustrated in FIG. 4, FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 can be implemented by a host
computer using a program that is externally installed. In this case, the
present invention can be applied to the case where a group of information
including a program is supplied to an output device from a storage medium
such as a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a flash memory, and a
floppy disk (FD) or from an external storage medium via a network.

[0230]The present invention can also be achieved by providing a system or
an apparatus with a storage medium storing program code of software
implementing the functions of the embodiments and by reading and
executing the program code stored in the storage medium with a computer
of the system or the apparatus (a CPU or a micro processing unit (MPU)).

[0231]In this case, the program code itself which is read from the storage
medium implements the functions of the embodiments described above, and
accordingly, the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the
present invention.

[0232]Accordingly, the program can be configured in any form, such as
object code, a program executed by an interpreter, and script data
supplied to an OS.

[0233]As the storage medium for supplying such program code, a floppy
disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a
magnetooptic disk (MO), a CD-ROM, a compact disk recordable (CD-R), a
compact disk rewritable (CD-RW), a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory
card, a ROM, and a digital versatile disk (DVD (DVD-recordable (DVD-R) or
DVD-rewritable (DVD-RW)), for example, can be used.

[0234]In this case, the program code itself which is read from the storage
medium implements the function of the embodiments mentioned above, and
accordingly, the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the
present invention.

[0235]The above program can be supplied by connecting to a web site on the
Internet by using a browser of a client computer and by downloading the
program from the web site to a storage medium such as a hard disk. In
addition, the above program can be supplied by downloading a compressed
file that includes an automatic installation function from the web site
to a storage medium such as a hard disk. The functions of the above
embodiments can be implemented by dividing the program code into a
plurality of files and downloading each divided file from different web
sites. That is, a World Wide Web (WWW) server and a file transfer
protocol (ftp) server for allowing a plurality of users to download the
program files for implementing the functional processing configure the
present invention.

[0236]In addition, the above program can be supplied by distributing a
storage medium such as a CD-ROM and the like which stores the program
according to the present invention after encrypting the program. The user
who is qualified for a prescribed condition is allowed to download key
information for decoding the encryption from the web site via the
Internet and can execute and install in the computer the encrypted
program code by using the key information.

[0237]The functions according to the embodiments described above can be
implemented not only by executing the program code read by the computer,
but also by the processing in which an operating system (OS) or the like
carries out a part of or the whole of the actual processing based on an
instruction given by the program code.

[0238]In another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, after
the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory
provided in a function expansion board inserted in a computer or a
function expansion unit connected to the computer, a CPU and the like
provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit
carries out a part of or the whole of the processing to implement the
functions of the embodiments described above.

[0239]While the present invention has been described with reference to
exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not
limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the
following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to
encompass all modifications, equivalent structures, and functions.